Sixty Meters
by pomegranate-stars
Summary: The Colossos is the tallest running wooden roller coaster in the world and Denmark just had to ride it. DenNor. OneShot.


**Hey, everyone! This was a challenge from my younger sister to write something that, for once, didn't contain an ounce of angst. I honestly have no clue where it came from, but I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you all like it as well! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, nor do I, by writing for this fandom, subscribe to or intend to offend anyone by the use of the national stereotypes present in the series. **

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><p>"Ohmigosh, look how huge it is! This is gonna be so much fun!" Denmark bounced on his heels, beaming widely as the line shuffled forward. "I'm so excited! Aren't you excited, Nor?"<p>

Next to him, the small Norwegian rolled his eyes, fanning himself with the map of the park. "Nikolai, Mathias. We're in public." Norway sighed irritably and swiped the back of his hand across his forehead, frowning as it came away damp. "It's so hot today. Why did I let you talk me into this?"

The line inched forward again and Denmark beamed, stepping forward and nearly bumping into the man in front of him. "Because we can't come to Heide Park and _not_ ride Colossos, Nik! It's the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world!"

"You could have just asked the others to go with you." Norway grumbled as a train full of screaming passengers rocketed past the line. "It's much too hot, and this line is too long."

Denmark nudged him casually. "Oh, come on, Nik, you know Tino's terrified of these rides, and Ber won't go anywhere without him and Emil's been trying to win that stuffed puffin for hours. Besides…" The line crept forward again, bringing Denmark and Norway into sight of the loading station. "I wanted to go with you. That way, if you get scared, you can cling to me for safety!" Denmark's eyes glazed over slightly as he began to imagine the situation.

Norway's eyebrow twitched and he elbowed the Dane hard, in the stomach. Denmark choked, brought roughly back to the present and grinned hesitantly, his cheeks flushed.

"I'm leaving. You can ride this yourself." Norway turned and bent to duck out of the line.

"Nooo!" Denmark flung his arms around Norway's waist, tugging the Norwegian flush against him. Norway stiffened as he was suddenly assaulted by Denmark's signature scent mixed with sweat, heat, and excitement. "Please, Nik, don't make me ride alone." He murmured into his ear, his breath tickling down Norway's neck.

Norway cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks blazing. "Fine. Now let me go."

Denmark nuzzled his cheek slightly. "I don't want to."

Norway suddenly noticed a group of grinning girls whispering and giggling next to them and struggled wildly against Denmark's arms. "Damn it, Mathias, I said let me go!"

A well-placed elbow to the solar plexus got Denmark off of him and Norway crossed his arms, his cheeks burning as he ignored the awww's of the girls behind him. Denmark rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and the line moved forward again.

"So, where are you guys from?" One of the girls, a bold little blonde with a thick German accent, leaned on the rail and posed her question to Denmark in English, grinning flirtatiously. Norway shot her a withering glare, which she ignored completely.

"Oh, I'm from Denmark." Denmark's mouth tilted up in a half smile as he answered smoothly in German. "And my friend is from Norway. We're here on a business trip, but I _had_ to ride the Colossos and managed to convince Nik to come with me."

"Have you ever ridden it before?" The blonde's friend, a tall brunette, leaned over the railing. "It's really high, you know."

"I know!" Denmark's eyes glittered with excitement. "I'm so excited!"

Norway folded his arms and looked away as the line shifted.

"Well, if you get scared…" The blonde girl bit her lip. "You can always hang on to me." She winked. "I'm really brave when it comes to roller coasters."

Denmark blinked slowly at her for a moment. "Hang on to…" His eyes shifted past the girl to where Norway stood staring irritably at the wooden coaster above him, his arms folded and he smiled softly.

"Thanks girls." He said cheerfully, slipping his arm around the Norwegian. "But I already promised Nik here that he could hold on to me, and what kind of friend would I be if I retracted my offer?"

"Aw." The brunette pouted good-naturedly and the line shifted again. Denmark stepped forward, leading Norway with him without moving his arm, keeping him almost possessively close.

"Look, Nor, we're almost to the front!"

Norway remained silent, his gaze trained down on his feet, but didn't move away from underneath Denmark's arm. The two nations stood in silence for the next several minutes, moving with the line until, finally, it was their turn.

Denmark released Norway and clambered into his seat, strapping himself down as he practically bounced in excitement while Norway, impassive as ever, slid gracefully into his seat, and pulled down his lap-bar.

"Aren't you excited? I can't believe it's finally our turn. This is gonna be so cool!" Denmark switched easily between Danish and Norwegian as though he couldn't decide which language he wanted to use most, sometimes melding the two languages together mid-word as he babbled excitedly.

Norway sighed. "Calm down, Mathias, it's just a roller coaster."

Denmark shot him an almost scandalized look when the announcer came on over the intercom, speaking in rapid German.

"Goooood afternoon, riders! You're about to ride the Colossos, the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world here at Heide Park! We're going to take you up a height of sixty meters and drop you forty-eight meters, reaching max speeds of 120 kilometers per hour!"

Denmark suddenly grew quiet, cutting off the babble of words as quickly as though he'd been gagged. Norway glanced sideways at him and felt his lips quirk. Denmark was suddenly looking pensive, rather than excited, his lips pressed tightly together.

"Did he say… sixty meters?" Denmark asked quietly.

"Yes." Norway answered simply, settling back into his seat as a lanky teenager came around, tugging half-heartedly on their lap bars to make sure they were secure.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Denmark sat up, waving the girl on his side back towards him. "You barely checked mine!"

The girl blinked confusedly at him and Denmark's brow creased, as he tried again, this time in German. "I said you barely checked mine! It could be loose!"

Norway sighed. "Mathias, I'm sure it's fine."

The girl gave them both a look as she returned and tugged, obviously and sarcastically, on Denmark's lap bar.

"Thank you." Denmark grouched, settling back in his seat, curling his fingers around the bar. "Honestly, sixty meters, you'd think they'd be a little more safety conscious…"

The announcer in the booth suddenly came back on, loud and clear. "Alright, riders, you are clear and out of here, Colossos is launching in three, two, one…"

With a rush of steam, the train began to chug forward slowly and Denmark let out an involuntary squeak. In front of them, the little blonde girl from the line turned around.

"Ready?" She called, giggling as the train lurched forward and started clacking up the first hill.

Denmark's eyes were huge as he looked down over the side of the train. "Sixty meters…" he mumbled, fingers flexing around the bar again. Norway couldn't stop the small smile that crossed his lips at the sight of the self-proclaimed King of the North, shifting nervously in his seat like a child.

"Mathias." He said as the train slowly climbed the hill. "Calm down. I thought you were excited?"

"I am." Denmark replied unconvincingly, eyes flicking down to the ground again. "Holy…! We are so high up."

"Yes." Norway was amused. "We're on a roller coaster, remember?"

The train was nearly at the top of the hill now, and Denmark had been reduced to mumbling in Old Norse under his breath, his knuckles white on the lap bar. Norway glanced down at Denmark's hands and then down at his own. Briefly, the thought crossed his mind that perhaps Denmark could use some comfort when the train had suddenly crested the hill and coasted around a turn.

The world paused for the slightest of instants as the train dangled on the precipice and next to him, Denmark swore harshly in Swedish. Norway just had time to be amused before the train fell and his mind was cleared as the wind rushed through his hair and the screams of the passengers whipped past his ears.

The train hit a dip and instantly rocketed up another hill and Norway took advantage of the change in g's to look over at his seatmate, who was pale and gripping the lap bar as though his life depended on it, eyes screwed shut.

The wind snatched away the brief chuckle from Norway's lips. Was this really the same nation who had stood beside him, swinging an axe at advancing hordes, wild-eyed and covered in blood as he shouted insults that would make even the raunchiest of sailors blush like a school girl?

Almost without thinking, Norway lifted his own hand off the bar, reaching for Denmark—then realized what he had been about to do and grabbed the bar again, gripping it tightly as his ears burned. His stomach rose into his throat and he nearly lifted off his seat as the train hurtled down another hill.

Suddenly, pressure in his shoulder caused him to look around, leaning as his body jolted with the train, finding Denmark, eyes still shut, pressing his face into Norway's shoulder, hands still gripping the bar. Norway rolled his eyes and this time wrapped his fingers without hesitation over Denmark's, gripping the bar with him.

"Idiot." He called over the wind and Denmark snorted into his shoulder.

Not paying attention to the roller coaster, Norway gasped, fingers twitching over Denmark's as the next hill took him by surprise. Involuntarily, he leaned into Denmark, and the two clung together as the train hurtled down the track.

Denmark let out a rush of words that were instantly stolen by the wind and, in a quick, jerky motion, turned his hand up and grabbed Norway's fingers, interlacing them with his own as he gripped the Norwegian's hand tightly.

Norway grabbed Denmark's shoulder in a kind of twisted, awkward embrace as the train crested the final hill and rumbled back into the station.

"… Welcome back, riders, how was your ride?"

The train exploded into cheers and whistles as Norway slowly peeled his fingers off of Denmark's, turning to unclip his seatbelt and unlocking his lap bar. Denmark took a deep breath and let it out slowly, undoing his restraints and jumping out of his seat, following Norway quietly towards the exit.

Once outside, Norway turned around to face Denmark. "Are you alright?" He asked, examining the pale Dane before him.

Denmark looked down at him, consternation in his eyes. "Yeah…" He smiled and Norway felt something twist almost painfully in the pit of his stomach. This wasn't Denmark's typical look-at-me-and-how-awesome-I-am smile. This smile was… different. Smaller. Gentler. It looked almost… dare he say it… shy?

Norway swallowed, staring up at Denmark, feeling his throat close up in panic. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but watch, wide-eyed and with a kind of anxious anticipation as Denmark's face dipped down, closer to his, so close he could almost see each individual eyelash haloing those strangely serious blue eyes and damn it why the hell wasn't he pulling away?

"Hey!"

Denmark shot back so quickly he almost fell backwards onto the ground. Norway looked around to find Sweden, Finland, and Iceland coming towards them. Iceland was clutching a giant stuffed puffin and looked smugly pleased with himself.

For some reason, Norway hated every one of them in that moment.

"Hey!" Denmark raised his hand in greeting, voice oddly pitched. Norway shot him a look and was surprised to see the faint splatters of a blush across the cheeks that had been pale not half a minute earlier. He felt his own cheeks color and he looked away quickly.

Finland smiled. "How was the roller coaster?" he asked Denmark cheerfully.

Denmark shrugged. "Good. I…" he looked down at Norway. "I really enjoyed it." He said quietly.

Norway didn't move, didn't look at him, didn't even breathe.

Finland looked confused, looking from Denmark to Norway, sensing some of the strangeness in the air. "And… Nikolai?"

Iceland glanced up at Norway from where he'd been smoothing down the fur on his puffin.

Norway shifted uncomfortably. "I'd… I'd go again." He said finally, voice barely audible among the screams and shrieks of the other excited theme park attendees.

Denmark's face split into a wide grin and he beamed. "Really? Well then let's go right now!" He grabbed Norway's hand and spun around, dragging the Norwegian towards the line again.

Norway stumbled after him, hand clenching around Denmark's involuntarily as they ran. "M-Mathias, Mathias wait…!"

Iceland rolled his eyes as he watched them run towards the ride. "What do you think?" He asked Finland.

Finland peered after Denmark and Norway, who are now standing in the back of the line and his smile widened as he noticed that they were still holding hands.

"It will probably take much longer than just a few roller coaster rides." He said knowingly. "But this…" He trailed off as Norway suddenly ripped his hand out of Denmark's and punched the laughing nation in the shoulder. Finland grinned. "… is an excellent start."

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><p><strong>I adore DenNor. So much. Thanks for reading! :)<strong>

**Pom**


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